The Way We Are
by quote intangible
Summary: A oneshot about how Kendall, James, Carlos and Logan met and became best friends when they were younger and their penchant for getting into trouble. Pre-series.


**Disclaimer: I do not know or own Big Time Rush or any other affiliated character, nor is any money being made. The show belongs to Nickelodeon.**

* * *

Kendall was five years old when he met James.

It didn't take long for Kendall to realize he _hated _James. The rambunctious kindergartner knew the snobby, pretentious child a grand total of five seconds before he pushed the other boy off a swing in righteous anger.

James stared at him, eyes wide, cradling his wrist to his chest as he lied stunned on the ground. Kendall gloated over him, arms crossed, eyes glaring at the prone boy, daring him to fight back.

When James did not move, Kendall snorted in derision. "Baby," he smirked at the child beneath him before turning to walk away, knowing the stuck up, self-absorbed child didn't have the _guts _to retaliate.

It came as a huge shock, therefore, when the brown-haired boy let out a war cry. Before Kendall could react, he became an intimate acquaintance with the ground as his face was viciously shoved into the dirt and the smirk was smeared off his face.

James had full body tackled him to the ground, knees digging into his arms, pinning him in the dirt. He had one hand tangled in Kendall's hair, smashing his face so forcibly into the ground it _hurt_.

"Take that back!" the other boy shouted at him. Kendall flailed on the ground in a useless attempt to throw the child off.

"Get off of me!" he yelled right back.

"Not until you take what you said back! I'm not a baby!"

Kendall valiantly struggled against the other's hold on him, but James did not budge. He could taste the dirt in his mouth and his eyes were beginning to water from the dust. He feebly attempted to cough, but James' body weight pressing on his chest wouldn't let him take a full breath.

Kendall was a stubborn child, but even he knew it was time to admit defeat. This was a battle he could not win. He was mildly impressed.

"Okay, I take it back," he mumbled.

The pressure on his head eased. "What?"

"I said I take it back!" The hand on his head was removed. James hesitated for a moment before sliding off Kendall's back.

Kendall immediately sat up as he rubbed dust from his eyes and spit out the dirt in his mouth. He was honestly surprised at how he had terribly misjudged James.

His mother always warned him not to judge a book by its cover, but the lesson never quite stuck. Kendall, however, just unknowingly and painfully learned why it was always a good idea to listen to your mother.

Kendall wanted to be angry at the boy for rubbing his face into the dirt, but when he finally took a good look at the five year old still seated next to him, his fury melted.

The fire fizzled out of the brown-haired nuisance. His eyes were fixated on the ground, shoulders sagged and his hand clutched tightly to his heaving chest. This boy was not the same bratty child Kendall pushed off the swings.

He had no idea what to do anymore or what to say, but James solved the problem for him.

"Thank you," the other boy whispered, a soft blush creeping across his cheeks before he sprang to his feet, pushed Kendall over and took off running.

Kendall had never been more confused in his entire life.

It could have been the end of their acquaintanceship, if it hadn't of been for his mother. Apparently he broke James wrist when he pushed the boy off the swings. Apparently his mother was furious when she found out.

She _forced _Kendall to invite James over as an apology even after he told her how the other boy shoved his face into the dirt.

It turned out for the best, somehow. That Saturday, when James shuffled into his house, they had an uneasy understanding and a volatile truce. They were only five after all, though, and so by the time James mother came to pick him up, all previous grievances were long forgotten and the boys were quickly becoming friends.

It was the start to a long, destructive friendship that often had Mrs. Knight regretting her decision that lead to it.

* * *

Kendall and James met Carlos in second grade.

The latino rushed into the first day of second grade ten minutes late with a big goofy smile on his face and a helmet on his head. The helmet he was very adamant about _not _taking off to the point where he argued with the teacher for twenty minutes before bringing a note from the doctor that stated he needed it.

They weren't friends at first, not by a long shot, but they did not hate each other and that was, at the very least, better than the way Kendall and James' friendship started.

Carlos was always so energetic and so full of life. Every morning he said hi to every single person in class. Every day he got in trouble with the teacher for talking too loudly and excitedly with _someone. _Every lunch he sat with someone new and every recess he ran around animatedly, barely avoiding serious injury due to the helmet on his head.

Every morning Kendall always said hi back, as did James after he elbowed him in the side. Every time Carlos sat with them at lunch, he always included the other boy in the conversation, and every once in a while they even played with Carlos at recess.

It was not a friendship, per say, but it was not _nothing _either and Kendall found he did not really mind the energetic bundle.

That all changed at Carlos' birthday party. The young boy was so excited he invited everyone in class. But out of all the nineteen kids invited, Kendall and James were the only two people to show up. Admittedly Kendall had to _drag _James there, though.

Kendall expected Carlos to be devastated, but he had never seen the other boy be more ecstatic. They were the first friends to show up to his birthday party in three years.

It was kind of sad, and pathetic, but Kendall never would have guessed that the energetic boy, who always went out of his way to be kind to everyone, had no friends at all.

The party was a disaster, but Kendall learned early on that mayhem and chaos tended to follow James and him ever since the day they met.

The clown was terrible and Kendall and James being who they were terrorized and mocked the poor guy. The furious clown with blood shot eyes stared down the seven year olds who looked on with disinterest. Apparently the clown had a bit of a temper, and apparently he was an ex convict that Carlos' father had once arrested.

The two boys could care less about who the guy was. Even after the clown threatened to kill them, James simply fixed is hair and Kendall raised his eyebrow clearly degrading his 'manliness.' Their attitude infuriated him, though, and Kendall could clearly see the vein throbbing in the old guy's forehead. The criminal hauled both boys off the ground by the back of their shirts screaming "_I'm going to cut out your intestines and tie them together!" _

"Hey!"

Kendall turned to see Carlos, red faced and furious like a raging bull. "Put down my friends!" he yelled. The clown threw back his head and laughed at the poor boy.

He was quickly forced to eat his own laughter as Carlos slammed his helmet into his stomach.

Kendall was unceremoniously dropped to the ground, James slamming into the dirt next to him with a soft thud as the clown doubled over.

Carlos' Papi quickly led the man away.

Kendall stood to his feet brushing dirt from his jeans as James meticulously fixed his hair.

"Thanks," James said when he was sufficiently pretty and extend his hand to the boy. The energetic child hugged James tightly instead.

It was in that moment the destructive duo became the troublesome trio.

The rest of the party went pretty much the way it started. They somehow managed to free some farm animals, beginning a mini stampede, set the bushes on fire, smush Carlos' grandmothers' face into the birthday cake and completely shatter a glass table.

In Kendall's opinion, it was the best birthday party ever!

Carlos was just thankful for his helmet, and his two new, and only, friends.

* * *

Kendall, James and Carlos met Logan in fifth grade.

Logan was the new kid on the hockey team. His family just moved to Minnesota from Texas.

At this point, the troublesome trio had earned quite the reputation as a decidedly destructive force. They were often compared to a hurricane, destroying everything in their path.

And though they were oblivious to it, they were becoming extremely popular not only due to their good looks, but their ability to always have fun and their outgoing personalities.

The new kid, however, was painfully shy and terribly awkward, but was a fairly decent hockey player.

_He's a nerd, _was the first thought Kendall ever had about the boy. But if there was anything he learned from his first encounter with James five years ago, it was that you didn't make judgments based on first impressions.

Turns out he was right about this one, though. The new kid _was _a nerd. So Kendall never really made much of an effort to make friends with him.

It was surprisingly James who extended the first hand of friendship towards Logan. James usually hated new people and rarely bothered to make new friends.

One day after hockey practice, though, James caught another teammate, Ryan, bullying the new kid in the locker room. Kendall never knew why, but James punched Ryan out and he and Logan quickly became fast friends.

James and Logan got along great, but that didn't mean Logan and Kendall did too. Their first conversations were more uncomfortable silence than anything else.

That all changed when they decided to rescue Kendall's dog, Downs, from the pound. The dog catcher decided to confiscate the pet because '_the mutt and his damn dog were causing too much havoc_._'_

Carol, James and him devised a devious plan to free his, and all the other dogs from the pound. Logan sat quietly on the side as the boys discussed their plan.

Kendall was annoyed that James had brought him along…again. The new kid never really added much to the conversation and mostly stayed to himself even when Kendall _tried _to talk to him. It frustrated him to no end, so he often just gave up. He sometimes wished James wouldn't let the kid tag along, and Kendall knew Carlos was starting to feel the same.

James was his best friend, though, and had been since the day the other boy smashed his face into the dirt five years ago. So he was going to at least try to make this work, just a little bit longer, for James' sake.

Logan sat by himself while they schemed up ways to get back his dog, but all of the ways ended up with them getting in some serious trouble or causing serious property damage.

The next day, they still had not come up with an acceptable method. He was upset and was pathetically moping around the house. He had that dog longer than he had known James and he was never going to get it back!

At least that is what he thought, until Logan showed up on his doorstep with Downs. "The dog catcher has no legal claim to your property," he said as he handed the leash over to Kendall.

He could only stare, dumbfounded, at the shy boy staring awkwardly at his feet on his front steps.

"Thank you," he replied as the dog leapt into his arms, his tail wagging manically, and his tongue greedily licking Kendall's face.

Logan blushed. "Your welcome."

Kendall doubled his efforts to get the know the kid after that, and after a couple of months he realized Logan and he were great friends.

Turns out Logan fit perfectly into the group. He was the voice of reason. Though that often failed to keep them from getting in trouble, it certainly was useful for getting them out of trouble. It was Logan's intelligence that often made their plans work in the first place.

The four of them weren't just troublesome, they were a down right terror.

The next five years had their parents wishing they had never met.

Carlos and Kendall nearly burned down the school during home ec. James and Kendall got the school locked down by the FBI because of a prank phone call. They'd somehow managed to destroy the principal's _and _vice principal's office, turned the pool, and everyone in it, purple, started multiple food fights in the cafeteria, tore down the curtains on the stage and visited the E.R enough times that the doctors thought they were being abused, all by the time they were 15.

And those were just the things they were _caught _doing. It didn't even begin to encompass all the things they'd done.

Though Kendall often found himself in serious trouble with his mother and other forms of authority, he could not complain. He had three best friends that often annoyed or angered him, but they were always there for him, they always had his back, and when things got tough, Kendall could always rely on them.

Plus they were always willing to have a good time and great fun.

"You guys ready!" Kendall asked.

"Ready!" Carlos and Logan answered at the same time. They both had pillows strapped to their chest and the stairs wide open before them in their third annual we're-snowed-in-and-bored Olympic games.

Not thirty seconds later, there was a loud crash, a loud 'ow' followed by a long lecture from Logan's mother, but as Kendall stared at his three best friends trying desperately not to smirk next to him, he knew it was well worth it.

And Kendall knew, he wouldn't give these guys up for anything.


End file.
